Reverb safe shipping and the pointy PRS headstock

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skolacki

Fractal Fanatic
Thought I’d share this. I bought a SE245 soap bar which arrived last week. The seller wanted $60 for shipping and he bought a label through Reverb. I guess this includes safe shipping. The SE line come with gig bags. So it was fairly well packed in a Fender guitar box. And UPS gave it a hard hit direct to the top of the box. That pointy headstock, which I am not fond of, stabbed through the packing and punched a hole in the box top. Not literally through the bag, but the point makes a focused target for an impact. And it got a pretty good ding. So to not make this a long story Reverb offered me a $100 refund to keep as is. I asked how a repair would work. And it works by getting a quote from a local luthier. Or I could take a $200 refund and call it good. So it’s good. It’s a sweet piece with a big fat neck. Turns out Korean wide fat doesn’t equal 06 US wide fat. But over a few beers me and the 245 made friends. I’ll most likely keep it and got a great deal too.

Moral of the story is Reverb safe shipping is legit, and response is fast. And PRS guitars not in a hard case are vulnerable. I think if it had been a Strat or LP style it would have survived. Since the buyer pays shipping I will be getting safe ship on any guitars I sell from now on.
 
skolacki said:
[…]
That pointy headstock, which I am not fond of, stabbed through the packing and punched a hole in the box top. Not literally through the bag, but the point makes a focused target for an impact. And it got a pretty good ding.
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I think if it had been a Strat or LP style it would have survived.
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I doubt it. You’re trying to conflate bad packaging, rough handling, and your personal aesthetics to implicate a minor design detail.

Most LP guitars would have snapped the headstock with a hit sufficient to puncture the packaging because of their over-angled headstock, an SG could also have split the body, and a Fender could have broken, loosened or stripped the neck screws, or possibly even split the body, depending on how the impact happened. ANY guitar could be damaged by impact when improperly packed, don’t imagine that a PRS is more susceptible because there’s a little bit of a point there. It could very well be that the damage would have been worse if it weren’t for another of PRS’ design decisions, a less angled headstock.

The shipper doing a lousy job packing is what Reverb responded to, not that there was a tiny point on the PRS headstock. Imagine if it’d been an Ibanez, Jackson, Schecter, Kiesel….
 
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Not arguing. I’m a woodworker for the last 30 years. Just saying if that piece wasnt small and pointed, and sticking out beyond the other side it might not have been crushed. That’s the only part that hit the end of the box. It lost the battle.
 
It could have been packed better for sure but it wasn’t a horrible job. I got $200 back so I’m happy with the deal. Not concerned with the ding. I was impressed with Reverbs response and thought I’d share. I love PRS they make great guitars. Might have rubbed a few feathers complaining about the headstock. I’m entitled to my opinion. Wish they used that Santana headstock on everything but the pointy shape is one of their trademarks. It’s recognizable. My son said my 10 top guitar was ‘pretentious’. Told him he didn’t have to inherit it if he didn’t want to lol.

Cheers guys!
 
Shredology said:
Pretty harsh responses to a guy telling us about an unfortunate accident and the advantages of Reverb shipping.
Is this TGP or the Fractal forum?
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Looks like TGP today.

This person's experience illustrates why I always ship guitars in a hardshell case with extra padding.
 
sandmannn69 said:
Looks like TGP today.
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It‘s looked like that more and more of late, but it seems to be inevitable online.
sandmannn69 said:
This person's experience illustrates why I always ship guitars in a hardshell case with extra padding.
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I’ve always preferred a hardshell case, though I do use a Mono Dual soft case for local gigging. My PRS Silver Sky shipped in a gig bag and made it safely, but shipping in gig bags is tenuous at best. I always get the Reverb protection when I ship, though I’ve thankfully never needed it. It’s good to hear claims aren’t the nightmare they can be with shippers.
 
skolacki said:
And PRS guitars not in a hard case are vulnerable. I think if it had been a Strat or LP style it would have survived.
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Maybe... or they might've received damage to the tuners. If it's as little a ding as you say and you got a nice refund, sounds like you scored!
 
I think so! Pretty much the only guitar I’ve been playing since I posted. Haven’t even noticed the ding lately. It even has the upgraded PRS locking tuners on it. I consider myself lucky on this one.
 
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